TGN Focus – Put The ‘Unity’ in ‘Community’

So I finished this article and was thinking about an appropriate title. I couldn’t get the word ‘bro’ out of my head (think brommunity, brollaboration, bromotion, etc.) and I knew that the other TGN guys would just come crashing down on me with an unflinching hate for my bad puns.

“I’m talking about a little thing

called cross-promotion…”

But at the end of the day, aren’t we all ‘bros’? I mean, the reason I love the TGN gamer community is because we’re one of the last vestiges of what one could call a real ‘family’ of gamers – headset ‘your mother’ jokes aside. Where the heck am I going with this? I’m not just tooting the old TGN horn, I’m going someplace awesome. I’m talking about a little thing called cross-promotion, and it’s one of the best ways to get your channel seen by the masses.

“When two channels unite, both audiences

get exposed to the other creator.”

Did You Just Touch My Mass?

You’ve probably seen some of your favourite channels collaborate with other YouTubers in the gamer community. Pretty cool stuff, really, but there’s more to benefit from it than simply playing a game or casting together. When two channels unite, both audiences get exposed to the other creator. This is a huge benefit to both channels, and it’s been a common practice for decades in other industries. Think Spiderman in a Wolverine comic and vice-versa. It’s been done, it’s been massively successful, it’s worth a shot if you’ve got some collaborations in mind.

No Need for Plenty of Fish

So how do you find the right person to collaborate with? Look around on YouTube, look who’s active in the TGN community and contact them directly through YouTube message or on their social media pages. YouTube is really a social media platform at heart, so think of it as the best way to figure out whether another channel is a good fit with your content. In the process, you might even get some ideas for your own channel by seeing what other people are doing.

“…you’ll have to sell them on your personality,

your ideas, or even your connections.”

Courting Collaboration

When you’ve narrowed down a few creators that you’d like to work with, it’s time to reach out to them! This is often the hard part. What do you say? What do you do?

I’d say the most important thing to do is to be friendly and sell your creativity. I don’t mean for money. I mean that you need to get them on board with the idea of collaborating with you. Tell them why and how it would benefit them to collaborate with you. If you’ve got a bigger audience than them, you’re in a good place to negotiate.

If you have a smaller viewer base however, you’ll have to sell them on your personality, your ideas, or even your connections. This can be a little bit tough at times, but if you can land collaboration with a channel that’s bigger than yours, you’re golden. It gives you a ton of extra exposure, and can be hands down one of the best ways to grow your own viewer base.

Heck, make it a regular gig if you can. Start up a series with the other creator. Your fans will enjoy it, and you just might make a new gaming buddy in the process.